A chemico-thermal treatment process, coat-nitrocarburizing, has been developed for use on iron and steel. The process consists of treating the workpiece with a coat that forms on the surface from the gaseous products of sublimation and decomposition of a triazine polymer reagent in a closed volume. The process can be used over a wide range of temperatures, either below the eutectoid transformation temperature in the Fe-N-C system for low-temperature nitrocarburizing, or above this temperature for hightemperature nitrocarburizing in different applications. The process is very simple, easily controlled, and is economic. In addition, it is a nonpolluting process, unlike conventional chemico-thermal treatment processes that discharge harmful gases into the atmosphere.